Archive: Business & Technology

State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli issued a report Monday detailing the impact of federal aid on New York's municipalities and school districts. In 2015, local governments and school districts outside New York City received $4.7 billion in direct federal aid. Separately, New York City received $7 billion, of which $1.7 billion went to funding the city's public schools.

"Local governments receive much-needed federal aid that supports our schools, fixes our roads and keeps our communities safe," said DiNapoli. "But potential policy changes in Washington could have a considerable impact on local government operations. In today's political climate, it's important for New Yorkers to get a sense of how much funding is at stake and what programs might be at risk."

In areas outside New York City, counties received $2.6 billion, or 55 percent of the total federal aid reported by local governments, school districts $1.6 billion (33 percent), cities $274 million (6 percent), towns $198 million (4 percent), and villages $82 million (2 percent).

How heavily local governments rely on federal aid as part of their individual revenue mix varies by class. In 2015, federal aid as a share of total revenue was the highest for counties (11.2 percent), followed by New York City (10.1 percent), New York City schools (6.5 percent), other cities in the state (5.7 percent), other school districts (4.1 percent), villages (2.9 percent) and towns (2.7 percent). Reliance on federal aid can also vary widely within these classes of government.

Specific data on each county, city, town, village and school district for 2015 is available through a new, interactive feature on DiNapoli's website.

Generally, the type of federal aid New York's local governments received in 2015 supported a broad range of purposes, which includes social services, education, transportation, public safety, economic development, health, community services, culture and recreation, utilities and sanitation.